The nation avoided the triple holiday epidemic, but the coronavirus still threatens

January 8, 2023 – It appears the United States has avoided the dreaded “tripledemia” of respiratory disease. As December approached, two triple threat viruses – influenza and respiratory syncytial virus – were on a strong upward trend that had health officials and healthcare providers sounding the alarm.

Data now shows that influenza and RSV appear to have peaked before the holidays.

“In a few areas we are seeing an increase or plateau in activity, but in most areas it has decreased,” said Shikha Garg, MD, CDC medical epidemiologist. NPR.

The number of RSV cases has fallen steadily since topping the charts in mid-November. The virus, which is particularly dangerous for infants and young children, is still circulating at higher levels compared to recent years, CDC data watch.

Influenza activity has declined steadily since early December, when 25% of flu tests were positive for the virus and nearly 26,000 people were hospitalized each week. The most recent flu data shows that 15% of tests administered are positive for flu and hospitalizations are down to 19,000 per week.

Influenza activity remains strong, with 11 states from New York still ranking in the CDC’s highest reporting category for the number of people visiting outpatient clinics with a fever, cough or dizziness. a sore throat. The states are California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Texas.

The remaining member of the tripledemic club is COVID-19, and his numbers are trending up. Hospitalizations reached a daily average of 47,417, which is the highest since last March, The New York Times reported. Test positivity is 16%, an increase of 21% over the past two weeks.

Federal officials report that levels of coronavirus in sewage, which helps show how widespread the virus is, have tripled or quadrupled, NPR reported.

“We are seeing a sustained increase in COVID infections across the country,” Ashish Jha, MD, the White House’s top COVID-19 official, told NPR. “COVID is therefore the thing that concerns us the most as we look to the days and weeks ahead.”